Joe Morris (right), chief architect at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, describes elements of the center’s 20-year master plan to reporters Monday. (West Life photo by Kevin Kelley)

NASA approves Glenn’s master plan
By Kevin Kelley
Westshore
Published Sept. 12, 2007

NASA headquarters in Washington has approved a master plan that promises an estimated $150 million worth of capital improvements to the Glenn Research Center and its Plum Brook Station near Sandusky.

“We look at the horizon and see a very promising future with exciting work here at NASA Glenn, and we want to prepare our facilities for the future challenges,” Joe Morris, Glenn’s chief architect said.

Glenn officials who announced the approval Monday stressed that the center’s master plan was formed in union with the space agency’s overall mission — to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautical research.

Just a few years ago, Glenn had more employees than work for them to do and faced the prospect of more job losses. But the center’s role was strengthened in June 2006 when it was awarded the responsibility of developing the service module of the Orion spacecraft, which will replace the space shuttle. Glenn was also given lead responsibilities for the upper stage of the Ares I rocket that will launch the Orion capsule.

Bill Wessel, associate director at Glenn, said the center has carved out its place in the space agency in terms of expertise in power, propulsion and communication.

“We have a great future not only in regard to work we have on our plate now but looking into the future,” Wessel said.

Projects that make up the master plan will be implemented incrementally over 20 years, officials said. Funding for each project will require authorization through the agency’s budgeting process.

“This master plan is meant to be a framework for the capital investment planning over the next 20 years,” Morris said.

Certain projects may be funded by NASA partners with non-NASA funds, officials said.

A new campus center at Glenn, where various project teams will be located to promote coordination, marks the cornerstone of the master plan. A Space Flight Collaboration office building and conferencing center are scheduled to be built in 2010 at the campus center.

The part of the Glenn campus north of Brookpark Road, known as the North Area, is expected to house an office park for aerospace companies.

This area is located within the boundaries of Fairview Park. The announcement in January 2006 that two office buildings on Brookpark Road would be closed led to a financial crisis in that suburb. Fairview Park Mayor Eileen Patton said her city would have lost $631,000 in income tax if those buildings were closed.

But the plan now is for those buildings to remain open until 2010. The likely scenario is that the buildings will then be demolished to make room for new office buildings.

But Morris did not rule out leaving those buildings up, at least temporarily. However, he said real estate experts Glenn has consulted with have said those facilities, built in the 1960s, are “Class C” office buildings. The optimal use of that space would be involve the construction of modern office buildings, he said.

Glenn’s Visitor Center would be relocated to the North Area and expanded to include a new aerospace education center that would promote NASA’s education mission.

According to a NASA document, the aerospace education center is in phase two of four phases of the master plan implementation, with funding expected to come from state and/or other sources.

The plan also calls for the consolidation of facilities. That means that two decades from now, the Glenn campus will have fewer but more efficient and environmentally sustainable structures, officials said.

A new entrance at Glenn that will improve campus security is scheduled to be built in 2008.

Enhancements to the Space Power Facility, where NASA’s Orion vehicle will undergo testing, are the main elements of the Plum Brook Station master plan. NASA has also expressed interest in leasing property at that facility as well as establishing some type of space-themed tourist attraction.

Plum Brook officials would also like to see a general aviation airport built near the site so space flight hardware could be more easily transported there for testing. However, no funding for an airport has yet been secured or identified.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has worked in recent years to save and obtain funding for Glenn, said the master plan ensures that the center will be part of the space agency’s long-term plans.

“This master plan paves the way for a strong and stable NASA workforce,” Kucinich said in a statement. “The upgrades to facilities as well as the new buildings will create opportunities to bring still more jobs to Northeast Ohio.”